Area lighting luminaire

ABSTRACT

An area lighting luminaire which includes a base having a lamp socket and lamp mounted thereon and extending above the base. The lamp and lamp socket are surrounded by a light distributing housing which includes a cylindrical fresnel lens surrounded by a plurality of stacked annular louvers spaced one from the other and extending radially and downwardly to shield the lens and lamp from view at viewing angles of horizontal and above. A cover member closes off the top of the light distributing housing and may include a central lens portion for the vertical release of light.

United States Patent Breed et al.

[54] AREA LIGHTING LUMINAIRE [72] Inventors: Charles P. Breed,Alexandria, Va.; Melvin R. Anderson, Avon Lake,

Ohio

[73] Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

' Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: Dec. 10, 1969- [21] App1.No.: 883,965

[52] US. Cl. ..240/46.37, 240/78 LK, 240/93 [51] Int. Cl ....F2lv 11/02,F21v 13/04 [58] Field of Search..240/46.3 1, 46.37, 46.41, 46.43,240/92, 93, 103, 104, 106.1, 108, 109,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,682,490 8/1928 Dressler..240/106.1 1,900,436 3/1933 Dourgnon ..240/46.4l X 2,359,655 10/1944Luke ..240/46.3l X 2,601,034 6/1952 Lee ....240/46.3l X 1,399,35512/1921 Loveland et a1. ..240/78 LK [451 Oct. 10,1972

1,978,251 10/1934 Doane ..240/78 LK 2,033,235 3/1936 Ferree ..240/78 LKFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 308,625 3/1929 Great Britain ..240/78 LKPrimary ExaminerRichard C. Queisser Assistant Examiner-C. E. Snee, III

Attorney-A. T. Stratton, W. D. Palmer and B. R. Studebaker 5 7] ABSTRACTAn area lighting luminaire which includes a base having a lamp socketand lamp mounted thereon and extending above the base. The lamp and lampsocket are surrounded by a light distributing housing which includes acylindrical fresnel lens surrounded by a plurality of stacked annularlouvers spaced one from the other and extending radially and downwardlyto shield the lens and lamp from view at viewing angles of horizontaland above. A cover member closes off the top of the light distributinghousing and may include a central lens portion for the vertical releaseof light.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEnnm 10 1912 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 2.

ATTORNEY PATENTEnucI 10 I972. I 697.740

sum 2 BF 2 AREA LIGHTING LUMINAIRE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to area lighting luminaires and more particularly to alow level lighting fixture which distributes the light emanatingtherefrom toward the ground for lighting walkways and streets of aresidential or commercial nature.

In the past, area lighting luminaires have generally included a visiblerefractor or lens and had associated therewith a degree of glare atleast when interposed in a persons line of vision. Generally, the lightsource itself could not be seen in these fixtures but at least thelocation of that light source was quite apparent to the viewer. Thesedots of brightness along a walkway or roadway, when lit, were theprincipalattention attractor. Area lighting fixtures are of courseemployed for the purpose of illuminating objects or areas and in manymodern applications are primarily employed to direct attention to theobjects or areas so illuminated. The present day area lightingluminaires, because of the bright spot appearance of the luminaireitself, essentially draws attention to the luminaire since it is thebrightest of all the objects illuminated, rather than having thebrightest light falling on the object of area desired to be illuminated.Ideally, a luminaire which evidences an improved appearance both indaylight and at night as well as one which rather than attractingattention to the luminaire itself creates a pleasing atmosphere ofbright moonlight on the area or object to be illuminated would greatlyenhance the asthetic value of the luminaire to an overall landscape orarea.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a luminaire whichprovides low angle, glare-free, ground or road level lighting not unlikethe pleasing atmosphere of bright moonlight by providing in suchluminaire a base which includes means for mounting a lamp socket andlamp therein, a cylindrical lens defining a lamp cavity positioned abovethe base and arranged to surround the lamp and at least a portion of thelamp socket, a plurality of annular louver members surrounding thecylindrical lens and stacked one above the other, spacer meansseparating each of the annular louver members from its adjacent louvermember; and a cover member overlying the lamp cavity, the upper edge ofthe cylindrical lens and at least a portion of the uppermost louver tothereby close off the top of the luminaire. The cover member may furtherinclude a central lens portion for the vertical release of light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily apparent and better understood as thefollowing detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of thisinvention is considered in'connec- 7 tion with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view illustrating the external appearanceof the luminaire of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line lI-ll of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the luminaire of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to thedrawings wherein like reference characters represent like partsthroughout the several views, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an arealighting luminaire constructed in accordance with this invention andgenerally designated 10. The luminaire 10 when viewed externallyincludes a base generally designated 12 which may comprise an upperannular dish portion 14 and a lower annular dish portion 16. Situatedabove the'base portion 12 and surrounding the light source and lens area plurality of radially and downwardly extending louvers 18. Closing offthe top of the luminaire is a top or cover member 20 which may or maynot include a central annular disc-like lens 22 which will permit lightto be directed vertically from the luminaire.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is illustrated a sectional view of theluminaire of this invention. As illustrated the luminaire base portion12 is secured to an upright pole or post 24 when the luminaire is to bemounted as a post top luminaire. Alternatively, for walkway lighting andother applications where a wide spread or light is not indicated theluminaire maybe mounted on a pedestal which may for example conform tothe diameter of the luminaire base portion 14. In the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the base 12 is shown in a two-partconfiguration which includes an upper dished portion 14 and a lowerdeeper dished portion 16. The portion of the base 16 can be eliminatedwhen an incandescent lamp, not requiring a ballast or large lamp socket,is employed asthe source of illumination. As illustrated, however, intheembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 the lower base portion 16 includes amounting plate 26 to which there are secured by for example, bolts 28mounting brackets 30 and 32 which serve to support a ballast coil 34 andlamp socket 38, respectively.

A lamp 40 is mounted in the lamp socket 38 and is surrounded by anintegral louver and lens assembly which forms a unitary central lightdistributing housing for the luminaire 10.

The integral louver and lens assembly includes a cylindrical refractoror lens 42 which may preferably be of the fresnel type, a plurality ofidentical louver rings 16, upper and lower louver rings 44 and 46,respectively, tubular spacers 48 and threaded rods 50. The integrallouver and lens assembly is assembled by placing alternately on aplurality of rods 50, a plurality of louvers 16 with spacers 48interposed between each of the louvers 16. The louvers 16 have a flatring portion 17 which includes a plurality of apertures therein toreceive the rods 50 therethrough. The remainder of the louver 16 extendsoutwardly or radially and downwardly from the flat ring portion 17. Thespacers 48 are so dimensioned that when interposed between a pair oflouver members 16 on the rod 50, the outward, lowermost portion of anupper louver lies in approximately the same horizontal plane as the flatring portion 17 of the next lower louver 16. This construction shieldsdirect light from the lamp 40 from a viewers horizontal or higher thanhorizontal line of sight with the luminaire. The upper and lower louversdiffer from the remaining louvers 16 in that they each have a downwardlyprojecting flange 45 and 47, respectively, to facilitate the attachingof the central light distributing housing to the base 12 and the topcover 20. in addition, the upper and lower end louvers 44 and 46 includean inwardly projecting flange which is essentially an extension of thering portion 17 of the remaining louvers. These inwardly projectingflanges 45a and 47a serve to retain the refractor or lens 42 in theintegral louver and lens assembly by coacting with indentations 43 onthe upper and lower ends of the lens 42.

The louver and lens assembly forming the central light distributinghousing is secured to the base 12 by a plurality of screws 52 and thetop cover member 20 is secured to the upper louver 44 at its flange 45by similar screws 54.

The top cover member 20 may be completely closed as illustrated inphantom through the lens 22 or when it is desired to light a tree orsign or some similar object situated above the luminaire, the lens 22may be sealed into an annular opening 21 in the top of cover member 20.Additional downlighting may also be provided by providing apertures 56in the bottom wall of the upper base portion 14, an annular ring in theform of, for'example a plastic lens 58, may be then positioned withinthe upper housing 14 to overlie the apertures 56 to refract lightexiting through the apertures 56.

The interior surface of the louvers 16 are preferably painted white toreflect light transmitted through refractor or lens 42 downwardly withas little loss as possible. The angles of the louvers l6 and theirspacing along the rods 50, are such that no illumination can be seenthrough the sides of the luminaire at viewing angles at the horizontalor above and all light is essentially directed downwardly upon the areato be illuminated it should be readily apparent that the area lightingluminaire of this invention has many applications'with respect to theasthetic illumination of objects due to its ability to eliminate thebright source which will normally attract the viewer's attention.

What is claimed is:

1. An area lighting luminaire comprising:

a base including means for mounting a lamp socket and lamp therein;

a cylindrical lens defining a lamp cavity positioned above said base andarranged to surround said lamp and at least a portion of said lampsocket;

a plurality of annular louver members surrounding said cylindrical'lensand stacked one above the other;

spacer means separating each of said annular louver members from itsadjacent louver member, said annular louver members including an annularring portion and a radially and downwardly extending louver portion,said spacer means separating each of said louver members from itsadjacent louver member a distance such that the downwardlyextendingouter end of each louver portion lies in substantially the sameplane as the ring portion of its adjacent lower louver member, the topand bottom annular louver members including inwardly directed flangesserving to mount said cylindrical lens therebetween; and a cover memberoverlying said lamp cavity, the

upper edge of said cylindrical lens and at least a portion of theuppermost louver, said cover member including a central disc-shaped lensportion overlying the cavity defined by said cylindrical lens.

1. An area lighting luminaire comprising: a base including means formounting a lamp socket and lamp therein; a cylindrical lens defining alamp cavity positioned above said base and arranged to surround saidlamp and at least a portion of said lamp socket; a plurality of annularlouver members surrounding said cylindrical lens and stacked one abovethe other; spacer means separating each of said annular louver membersfrom its adjacent louver member, said annular louver members includingan annular ring portion and a radially and downwardly extending louverportion, said spacer means separating each of said louver members fromits adjacent louver member a distance such that the downwardly extendingouter end of each louver portion lies in substantially the same plane asthe ring portion of its adjacent lower louver member, the top and bottomannular louver members including inwardly directed flanges serving tomount said cylindrical lens therebetween; and a cover member overlyingsaid lamp cavity, the upper edge of said cylindrical lens and at least aportion of the uppermost louver, said cover member including a centraldisc-shaped lens portion overlying the cavity defined by saidcylindrical lens.